1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric circuit connection container used for electric wiring etc. in automobiles and other vehicles and a method of assembly of the same, more particularly relates to an electric circuit connection container capable of effectively accommodating electric parts etc. projected from a printed circuit board and a method of assembly of same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric circuit connection container used for electric wiring etc. in a vehicle is known from Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-18160, Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 1-25284, etc.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-18160 discloses an improvement of a joint box (electric circuit connection container) accommodating a printed circuit board containing electronic circuits for used for connection of the wire harnesses of automobiles. This electric circuit connection container uses busbars to centrally perform all of the branch connections required for a wire harness. Recently, however, electric circuit connection containers have not only been able to serve as mere means of connection, but also have been able to perform signal processing inside when printed circuit boards containing electronic circuits are accommodated and electrically connected inside those electric circuit connection containers. The electric circuit connection container disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-181610 is structured with a housing comprised of an upper case and a lower case. When assembling the electric circuit connection container, the busbars are accommodated in the lower case, a printed circuit board carrying electronic components is laid inside the lower case, the soldering portions (connection terminals) of the printed circuit board and the busbars positioned beneath them are connected by soldering, then the upper case is covered over the printed circuit board. The upper case is structured to have a sufficient height to be able to accommodate electronic components of certain heights carried on the printed circuit board. When assembly such an electric circuit connection container, however, while electronic components of certain heights can be freely positioned, careful attention must be paid not to damage the electronic components carried on the printed circuit board. Therefore, the work efficiency is low. In addition, such an electric circuit connection container is not designed to accommodate several layers of printed circuit boards and therefore is insufficient as an electric circuit connection container used at present in which complicated electrical connection is demanded.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 1-25284 discloses an electric circuit connection container comprised of an assembly of a circuit board having a group of branched conductive paths formed by busbar wiring and a printed circuit board to be connected to the circuit board. This electric circuit connection container is used by placing a case over the circuit board and putting a cover on the printed circuit board. However, in a structure where a case is placed over a circuit board and a cover is put on the printed circuit board as described above, two parts, that is, the case and the cover, become necessary, so part management is troublesome. Also, the price of the electric circuit connection container becomes high. Further, the assembly of the electric circuit connection container is not easy.